this game is still free to play. Buying the game is a pre-purchase of the full game.
Click here to find a multiplayer server. You will also find server in the forums. Check out this wiki page on how to get started.
StarMade is a minecraft inspired 3D sandbox space shooter.
Explore: Explore space generated in real time around you
Design: design you own ship or space station.
Customize: create customized weapons, harvesting
elements, shields and docking stations for your ship. Combine elements
to groups to make your modules even more powerful.
Multiplayer: full multi player: share control of your ship or design a ship together
Destroy: destroy your enemies with your powerful
weapons or just infiltrate an enemy ship. There already is a big arsenal
of destructive modules: Missiles (normal, heat seeking and target
chasing), Lasers, and Explosive modules that detonate on impact
Salvage: salvage the ships of your fallen enemies to gain credits
Physics: fully integrated modern physics engine for real box-on-box collisions
Stealth: use radar jamming and cloaking modules for a surprise attack.
Multiplatform: runs on windows, mac and linux
Share: save, import & export your own ships as blueprints. You can upload your blueprints to any multi player server
AI: fight your own creations alone or in coop mode
Tutorial: interactive tutorial to learn the basics
You can rent your own dedicated StarMade server here Follow me on Twitter or suscribe on Reddit. Also check out the awesome Minecraft Community madrealms.net, which already helped me out a lot (it also got a StarMade forum)
Aliens are like Superman. You can't make a game
about them without compromising the very thing that makes them so
powerful. So the Man of Steel
has a health bar and can be beaten up by Sub-Zero, and xenomorphs -
described by Ash in Alien as a 'perfect organism' - can be killed in
droves by a single Marine with a machine-gun. In the films they're
cunning, merciless, and intelligent; here they're little more than dumb
animals.
More game videos from CVG:
You don't actually see a xenomorph in Aliens for almost an hour. In Aliens: Colonial Marines you're up to your shins in fluorescent green gore within ten minutes. This is because James Cameron understands things like pacing, storytelling, and tension - and because the devs don't.
In fact, they don't even seem to understand Aliens. They think it's a
film about guns, one-liners, and being 'badass' - a word you'll hear a
lot here. But for all their bravado in the first act of the film, the
Marines are absolutely terrified when they realise what they're
up against. "How could they cut the power, man? They're animals!" The
aliens are so unstoppable - so perfect that even an entire squad of
highly-trained Marines can't survive an encounter with them.
STAY FROSTY
Set 17 weeks after the events of Aliens, Colonial Marines is a
whirlwind tour of familiar locations. You'll visit the stricken colony
of Hadley's Hope on LV-426, the derelict ship from Alien, and the U.S.S.
Sulaco, as well as new areas created especially for the game. The
environment design is excellent, and the closest the campaign comes to
evoking the mood of the films, with claustrophobic corridors and
atmospheric lighting. The cavernous chamber in the derelict, where Kane
first encounters the facehugger in Alien, is one of its most impressive
sights - even if all you're doing is sprinting through it killing people with a big gun.
Yes, that's right - people. They've decided that xenomorphs, one of science
fiction's most iconic, terrifying creatures, just aren't good enough on
their own, and have brought in some generic FPS goons for you to battle
as well. Evil mega-corporation Weyland-Yutani are conducting
experiments on LV-426, and they've hired a private military company to
protect their secrets - even though all their nefarious research
equipment has their logo printed on it. Remarkably, the soldiers are
even denser than the aliens, and display about the same level of AI
complexity as those man-shaped targets that move from side to side on a
firing range.
Aliens is an action film, and there's a lot of shooting in it - but
also plenty of horror, drama, and moments of calm. This game can only
dream of that texture: it's pretty much just constant killing.
The hiss of an Alien instils about as much fear in you as a gently purring kitten
There are a few attempts at variety - one of which we'll talk about
later - but the majority of your time is spent holding down the fire
button while aliens run at you. It's one of the most basic,
one-dimensional first-person shooters we've played in a while, with no
tactical depth to speak of. Smart enemies are absolutely crucial to a
good FPS. When you hear the crackle of the Marines' radios in Half-Life,
you actually feel threatened because you know you're in for a tough
fight. In comparison, the hiss of an Alien here instils about as much
fear in you as a gently purring kitten.
But let's talk about what it does right. Despite this cascading
waterfall of negativity, there are a few things in Colonial Marines we do
like. An early level sees you stripped of your weapons and forced to
crawl through a basement full of what look like bizarre xenomorph
statues. Occasionally one will spring to life, and you have to stop
suddenly to avoid being spotted. They're blind and are attracted to
sound, meaning you have to stay frozen as they creep past, inches from your face. It's only a brief level, but a fleeting glimpse of what a great Amnesia-style horror game someone could make with the Alien licence. Alas, it's not long before all the shooting starts up again.
Authenticity is another of the game's strong points. Lance Henriksen
and Michael Biehn reprise their roles as Bishop and Corporal Hicks, and
Gearbox hired legendary sci-fi concept artist Syd Mead to design parts
of the Sulaco that were never seen in the film. The levels are stuffed
with references, in-jokes, and hidden 'legendary weapons' like Vasquez's
M56 Smartgun. You'll also find a few bizarre easter eggs, dog tags of
fallen Marines, and something we're convinced is a reference to Ridley
Scott's polarising sort-of-prequel, Prometheus.
Speaking of guns, they're actually great; better than the limp combat
deserves. They feel weighty and powerful, and the pulse rifle makes the
same satisfying roar as it does in the film. The motion tracker is in
there too, complete with its famous pulsing bleeps - but it's a gimmick.
The aliens rush you the moment they see you, so you never really feel
like you have to use it.
ASSHOLES AND ELBOWS
The fan service is entertaining, but it can also be quite grating.
It's like the writers are sitting with you as you play, tapping you on
the shoulder and winking knowingly every time they jam in a reference to
the Alien mythology. The dialogue is terrible too. Really, seriously
bad. They've tried to ape the film's notoriously macho military slang,
but it comes across like a cheap imitation, and the actors' attempts to
sound like hardened soldiers are unconvincing.
The story itself, predictably, can't compare to any of the films
(yes, even the miserable Alien Resurrection), and proves to be instantly
forgettable. Weyland-Yutani being evil and experimenting on xenomorphs
has been a pretty common theme throughout the extended Alien universe,
and explored by dozens of books, comics, and films over the years.
Couldn't they have come up with something new? While promoting the game,
Gearbox boldly said this was a 'true sequel' to Aliens - but, sadly, in
the end it feels more like a straight-to-DVD spin-off.
MULTIPLAYER VERDICT
Do the co-op and competitive modes right the wrongs of single-player?
The xenomorphs in the campaign aren't intimidating at all, but in
multiplayer it's a whole different story. With humans controlling them,
they actually begin to feel as ruthless, quick-witted, and unpredictable
as their movie counterparts. Playing with other people, Colonial
Marines is way more enjoyable. Across its various modes, one side plays
as the Marines, and the other the xenomorphs, with entertaining results.
Aliens can see Marines through walls, climb around the map, and sneak
through vents, but have to get up close to attack; Marines can kill from
afar, but have to use motion trackers to locate their hunters. As a
Marine you feel the kind of fear the campaign promises, but fails to
deliver. As a xenomorph you relish the powerful feeling of skulking in
the shadows and picking Marines off one by one, impaling them with your
spiny tail.
The best multiplayer mode, Escape, has a definite Left 4 Dead vibe
Escape is the best mode, although it's woefully underserved with only
two maps out of the box (expect DLC). It sees the Marines progressing
through a single-player-style level, clearing objectives - hacking
doors, restoring power to elevators - as the xenomorphs attempt to stop
them. The Marines get extra health and armour, but only one life. The
xenos can keep respawning, and any Marine they take out becomes part of
their team. There's a definite Left 4 Dead vibe in this mode, with safe
zones between objectives stocked with supplies. It's nowhere near as
polished or dynamic as Valve's game, but it's a decent attempt at
creating something similar.
Marines have weapon loadouts that can be customised with the usual
online shooter bits and pieces: scopes, extended magazines, paint jobs.
Cleverly, XP earned in the single-player campaign carries over to
multiplayer, meaning any weapons you've customised there can be brought
over and used against real players. The xenos come in different
flavours, including spitters, who can gob balls of acid, and have their
own upgrades in the form of special powers.
Playing as the Marines is pretty self-explanatory, and uses standard
FPS controls, but the xenos are more challenging. They're fun to use,
especially in the larger maps where there are plenty of places to stalk
and sneak up on opponents - but the climbing controls need work.
Transitioning between surfaces - say, a wall to a roof - often doesn't
work, and we found ourselves getting stuck numerous times, usually while
under fire. Asymmetrical multiplayer is nothing new these days, but in
the context of the Alien universe, it works really well.
There's a co-op mode that supports up to four players, but fighting
alongside friends doesn't do much to improve the campaign. If you want
to experience Aliens as you saw it in the movie, stick to the
competitive modes. They do a much better job of recreating its most
tense moments, and it makes the xenomorphs seem like a genuinely
formidable foe, rather than rubber ducks at a shooting gallery. But even
with decent multiplayer, Colonial Marines is still a major
disappointment; one that stands in the shadow of Cameron's film classic.
Game over, man.
